


You Are Now Entering Hell

by Macx



Category: Real Ghostbusters
Genre: Demons, Paranormal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-07-15
Updated: 2011-07-15
Packaged: 2017-10-21 10:14:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,995
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/224061
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Macx/pseuds/Macx
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A whole town of people accidentally ends up in Hell, which is a great embarrassment to all parties involved. Since the Lord of Hell can't just set them free -- he has an image to upkeep, and there are rules and regulations, you know -- the Ghostbusters strike a deal. How hard can it be to trap one little hellhound?</p>
            </blockquote>





	You Are Now Entering Hell

**Author's Note:**

> originally written in the mid-nineties

It was a pleasant night, calm and warm. Sounds of night animals penetrated the otherwise quiet land, and here and there was a rustle of little feet scurrying through the underbrush. A rabbit stopped and sniffed the air, it's short ears twitching nervously. It had no real natural enemies here; there were neither foxes nor birds of prey. But it had to be careful of dogs from the near-by town, or traps set by the hunters. It hopped on, searching for some edible grass.

Seconds after the rabbit had passed through the underbrush something happened. There was a low rumbling sound, followed by a slight shaking of the ground. And then the ground cracked open. At first it was only a thin, barely detectable crack, then it grew larger and larger. A sickly green light shone out of the crack and a dense, white smoke rose out of it, penetrating the darkness of the night with its stench. The crack opened wider and wider until it was large enough to admit a man. An arc of light shot out of the ground and right into the sky. Thunder rattled the night and the green light intensified, white smoke curling through the forest, clinging to the trees like spider webs to a fly. The animals fled in panic, mice and rabbits racing for a safe place. Birds left their nesting places, screaming in fright.

In the town only a few miles away from the woods the people awoke by the strange flash of light and the rumbling of the earth.

  
* * *

 

A low curse echoed through the vast caverns. "How could that happen?" an enraged, male voice demanded. "That chain is supposed to hold eternally!"

"We don't know," was the meek reply. "Suddenly he was gone."

Another curse, then the voice said with forced calmness. "Find him."

"That won't be easy, sir....."

"I said find him! That's an order!"

"Uhm, yes, sir."

"What's this realm coming to?" he asked no one specific when he was alone again. "Next thing I know I'll be calling the Ghostbusters to help me with my household problems....."

 

* * *

 

Winston cut Ecto-1's engine and leaned over the steering wheel, looking at the town's main street with a frown. "Looks like a ghost town, guys," he said. "Ray, are you sure this is the correct one?"

Ray Stantz, who had been Winston's navigator for this trip, studied the map. "There's only one Forestville here, and that's the one," he told his friend, then looked up. "And Mr. Carter said to drive this way. We followed his instructions step by step."

"Ray, I think somebody thought this would be a great joke, and it is -- for him." Peter Venkman leaned forward, staring through the windscreen. "I told you not to trust that guy."

"Mr. Carter's references were excellent, Peter," Egon Spengler said calmly. "There was no indication of a fraud. If I may remind you, you were the one who insisted on checking him out and you were also the one who said with all those references he'd surely be a man who would keep his word."

Peter grumbled something, then got out of the car. He stretched, feeling the heat of the midday sun brush over him like a living being,  and then looked around. This town really did look like a ghost town. The streets were empty, the buildings looked abandoned. There was a garage with a service station and a car rental attached to it, the buildings shut down. A hotel with a 'no vacancies' sign blinking on and off was at one corner and a groceries store on the other. A bike lay on the sidewalk, abandoned.

"Eerie," the dark-haired psychologist remarked. "And terribly warm," he added and brushed some sweat off his brow.

Egon, who had followed his example and had left the car, took his P.K.E. meter out and began to take readings. "Fascinating," he commented after some time, then began to walk down the street.

Winston, leaning against the driver's door, shook his head. "What now?" he wanted to know. "We can't stand around here all day, especially in this heat."

"We should try and find someone who can point us to Mr. Carter," Ray said immediately.

"And where?" Peter wanted to know. He gestured at the empty town. "There's no one here. If that were a western town there'd be dust blowing through the streets and a wolf howling in the distance. This town is completely empty of people."

"Not completely," Winston remarked and pointed at a figure on a bike, steadily  coming closer.

"Who's that?" Ray asked.

Peter narrowed his eyes and watched as the man rode closer. "Someone on a bike," he commented.

The man on the bike appeared to be in his late fifties, with a mass of straight, grey hair, which he had let grow down his back and bound into a pony tail. A head band kept his hair out of his eyes. His face was naturally sun tanned and there were laugh lines around his eyes and mouth. He was dressed in a jeans shirt and jeans pants, looking like a cowboy without a horse.

"You boys must be the Ghostbusters," he said without any preamble as he stopped beside Ecto-1.

"We are," Winston answered, curiously eyeing the stranger.

The bike he was riding was pretty old, painted in black and missing both a headlight and a tail light.

"I'm Joseph Carter, the man who called you." He frowned. "I thought there were four of you."

"There are," Egon's bass rumbled from behind Carter.

Carter turned and smiled at the tall blond. "Having a quick sight seeing tour, huh? Nothing much to see anymore since the whole mess started."

"What mess?" Ray asked. "You were pretty vague on the phone."

Carter shrugged. "Talking is never any comparison to seeing," he said. "I thought if I could interest you boys into coming here and seeing what has happened, you might just take the case."

"Why don't you start spilling your story right now?" Peter asked.

Joseph Carter smiled. "Why don't you come over to my place and then we can talk in quiet."

"I don't think it can get any more quiet than that," Peter muttered and looked around again.

The four Ghostbusters followed Carter down the street in their car. The older man was riding his bike down several turns and then stopped in front of a single-storey house at the town's border. It was a small house with a nice front yard and several trees standing beside it. Carter motioned them inside.

"Take a seat. Anything to drink?" he asked kindly. "Coffee? Tea? Lemonade?"

"How about an explanation?" Peter demanded.

Carter grinned, serving everyone a glass of orange juice nevertheless. "Okay, you get one. This town, Forestville, was a lively town only a few weeks ago. I know it doesn't exactly look like this right now, but you can believe me."

"What happened?" Winston wanted to know.

"A bad case of weather happened," Carter explained. "One night we had a thunderstorm in the distance. It woke nearly everyone in Forestville and some, who couldn't get back to sleep, said that they saw a green streak of lighting in the distance."

"Green?" Ray echoed.

"Yes, not only was it green, it didn't come from above. It came from the ground and went into the sky."

"Very fascinating," Egon muttered. "What happened then?"

"Some of us went to investigate the strange phenomenon. They didn't come back by night and when we wanted to go and search for them we noticed the smoke and the green light in the woods." Carter shrugged. "People became frightened. When the missing men hadn't returned by the next day the search party went out -- and didn't return."

"Why didn't you call the police?" Ray asked.

"We tried, but they didn't believe in green lights and missing people. They thought it was a joke. One officer came over and took a look at the forest, but he said there was nothing there." Carter sighed. "And then, one night, everyone disappeared. Just like that." He snapped with his fingers.

"And why are you still here to tell the story?" Peter wanted to know.

"Because I wasn't there this one night. I had accompanied the police officer to convince him that there was really something strange going on. No one believed me. They said I'm a crazy old man and that Forestville was back to their old game again."

"Who, just a second," Peter interrupted. "What old game?"

Carter chuckled sadly. "There are stories concerning the Forestville people, stories which are still true today. The people always loved to play the ghost ridden town, with hair raising stories of the undead rising from their graves and such stuff. Once a year there are festivities celebrating those ghost stories and everyone is having fun; it's even better than Halloween. It's also the main income of this little town. We're getting loads of tourists."

"I heard about it," Ray volunteered. "I always planned on driving here and spend a day at the festivities."

"We're quite famous," Carter smiled sadly.

"So this is like the boy who cried wolf," Winston remarked dryly.

"Something like it, but this time it's no fraud. The people are gone and last night I saw the forest glow green and I also saw the smoke. It was like a living being, more like a mist than smoke; and it was crawling toward this town. You have to help me find the people of Forestville." Carter looked sincere.

Peter frowned a bit. Something about Carter bothered him, but he couldn't tell what it was. "Egon? Ray? Winston?" he asked.

The three Ghostbusters nodded.

"We will take a closer look at whatever it is that is here," Ray decided.

"There is definitely something here," Egon immediately said. "I have precise readings of  ..."

"Something?" Winston interrupted and looked over Egon's shoulder at the P.K.E. meter. "Something what?"

"It has high P.K. readings, but it isn't a ghost."

"In one word, Egon: what is it?" Peter asked in a pained voice.

"A gateway."

 

* * *

 

"Oh, goody," Peter muttered and stared at the large crack in the ground. "Oh, goody-goody-goody."

"It's a gateway into another world!" Ray said with excitement. "That's great!"

"Oh, yeah, great, Ray," Peter grumbled. "Egon, please tell me we can solve this easily and don't have to go down there?"

The blond physicist was busy taking readings and just now looked up. "I'm afraid we have to, Peter. This is not exactly a normal gateway, as far as I can tell."

"What is it, Egon?" Ray asked, taking a look at the read-out screen. His eyes widened. "Wow! It's gateway into the Netherworld!"

"The Netherworld," Peter echoed without any enthusiasm at all. "Winston, ain't that super?"

The other Ghostbuster sighed. "A dream come true. Guys, why do we have to go down there? Can't we just close it?"

"No."

"Care to explain why, Egon?" Peter asked pointedly.

"Because the whole population of Forestville disappeared down there and we have to find those people and get them back before we attempt to close the gateway."

"Attempt? I love that word. Won't those people magically appear when we close that thing?" the psychologist wanted to know.

"No," Ray shook his head. "If we close the gateway, we'll seal those people down there forever. Egon's right. We've to get them out of there first."

Joseph Carter, who had stood by silently, looked at the crack. "How did this gateway come here, Dr. Spengler? We never had any ghost troubles in all our lives. It was only a joke ... an idea."

"Maybe the ghosts were attracted to your festivities and decided it was time you had some real attractions," Peter said with a shrug.

"No, that's not the case. This chasm opened naturally." Egon looked at Carter. "You said there was something like a bad weather storm and the ground was shaking."

The older man nodded. "And then the light came from the ground and shot into the air."

As if on those words the green light from deep inside the crack began to glow much stronger. Peter stepped away from the opening.

"Uh-uh, Egon ......" he said ominously.

A gust of hot wind shot out of the opening and ruffled the five men's hair.

"It's active again," Egon reported. "It's now or never." He stowed the P.K.E. meter.

"Then it's never I prefer," Peter commented, but readied his proton pack anyway.

Egon turned to Carter. "You better return to your home and wait there. I don't know what will happen after we entered the Netherworld. I'm not even sure where exactly we will enter the realm, so it might be dangerous to hang around here."

"Right, and it's safer to descend down there," Peter muttered, but didn't back away.

Carter nodded. "I'll follow your advice. Just be careful and bring everyone back alive."

"We will," Ray promised.

Then the four men looked at each other. Peter nodded and they stepped into the chasm.

 

*

 

The man known to the Ghostbusters as Joseph Carter watched them disappear inside the chasm. There was another flash of green light and more mist rose, like the smoke of hell, out of the hole. He frowned a bit, wondering if this had been the right decision.

"You don't think it was a good decision either, do you?" a rough female voice suddenly asked.

Carter turned, not the least bit disturbed when he found a rather scary female figure standing beside him.

"I do," he said, then shrugged. "But if he thinks the Ghostbusters can do a better job than his own kind, well, then let's hope he's right."

The woman snorted and shook her her mass of yellowish hair which she wore in an Irokese fashion. "You're a dreamer." She gave him a look of disdain. "And that disguise doesn't suit you in any way." With that she disappeared.

Carter smiled, smoothing his clothes. "I rather like it," he said to the empty air around him.

 

* * *

 

Peter blinked and looked around. He was standing in a desolate looking place, all grey in grey. The sky above him was black, streaked with orange and yellow ..... no it wasn't a sky, it was a ceiling. The orange and green streaks were strange plants and there were also cobwebs hanging around. stalactites grew to the floor, meeting with the stalagmites coming from the ground. There were twisted trees and bushes growing on the ground and a thin mist covered parts of the floor he stood on.

"Wow!" Ray breathed at his side. "This is neat!"

"Buddy, you have to get your taste checked," Winston said, shaking his head. "This looks worse than every other place I've seen in the Netherworld."

"And it smells worse as well," Peter remarked.

They had had a rush of a ride, arriving quite safely and gently at this place. It had been like a roller coaster ride without the expected hard landing.

"These readings are fascinating," Egon remarked, his eyes once again glued to the P.K.E. meter. "We're right at the center of whatever realm we are in. As all readings of a Netherworld realm are unique I think I can pinpoint exactly where we are in a few more minutes."

A howl echoed through the cavern they were standing in and Peter shivered involuntarily. "Make that seconds, buddy, because I think there's something out there that wants its breakfast."

"We should take a look around," Ray decided and began to walk down the cavern, which fell slightly away from them. Peter wanted to protest, but then only shrugged and followed. Winston and Egon did the same.

They followed the ever narrowing way down to a stretch of open land. The ceiling was far above them and there was a dense structure of dead trees in front of them. Another way led away from the trees, deeper inside the maze of caverns.

"What now?" Peter wanted to know.

A howl answered him and he whirled around, thrower in hand. But except for the four men there was nothing here.

"Ray, would you take a look at that?" Egon asked and held the P.K.E. meter out to the occultist.

"This is incredible!" the auburn-haired man breathed. "We're in the Underworld!"

"Underworld?" Winston echoed. "You mean like Hell?"

"Something like it. People have different names for the Underworld. Hell, Hades......" Ray was very excited about that.

"We're in Hell?" Peter wanted to know, his voice rising. "Guys, I wanna get outta here, right now!"

"Not before we found the missing people."

"Maybe I could be of help?" a pleasant male voice suddenly said.

The Ghostbusters whirled around and Egon's P.K.E. meter  squealed in overload. A man was standing in front of them, dressed in black leather pants, cowboy boots, and a black silk shirt with a black vest. He smiled pleasantly at them. His dark hair was neatly combed and only his slightly reddish eyes told of his otherworldly origin; and of course his P.K.E. readings.

"Negative valances," Egon reported. "He's corporeal. Maybe class-11 or higher."

"Like the Bogeyman?" Ray asked.

"Oh, please, don't compare me to him," the corporeal being said with disgust. We have nothing in common."

"Who are you?" Peter wanted to know. "And what did you do to the people of Forestville?"

"I have many names. Whatever culture you ask, I have another name, but it's always me."

"One would be enough," Peter told him sarcastically.

"Then call me Kitaen."

"Kitaen?" Ray asked. "I don't recall that name. I never read it anywhere."

Kitaen smiled. "Well, I choose that name some months ago to go as my regular name for the next millennia. All the others were given to me by mankind; I thought I had the right to chose one for myself." He shrugged.

"You're the Devil," Egon stated flatly.

Peter tensed and his hands clamped tightly around his thrower.

"In your legends, yes, I'm the Devil. In Greek legends I'm Hades. In Egypt I was called Osiris. Choose a name, I'm all of them." Kitaen shrugged again. "Names are nothing. I'm the keeper of this realm since it was assigned to me, nothing more, nothing less."

"Why have you abducted the population of Forestville?" Winston wanted to know, his voice flat and dangerous.

"I didn't abduct them, Mr. Zeddemore. It was an accident." The Master of Hell looked a bit embarrassed about it.

"Well, then return them," Peter demanded.

"I can't. They have entered my realm and they have to stay here. Simple."

"Simple? But they aren't dead!" Ray protested. "Legend always said that dead souls went into the Underworld, never a living one."

"I told you it was an accident, Dr. Stantz," Kitaen repeated.

"Then why don't you return them?" Egon asked calmly.

"Because that's not possible. You see, I've an image to keep up, Dr. Spengler. I can't just set those free who stumbled into my realm. It would be a breach of regulations ... rules ..... Other would want to get free as well." Kitaen looked at them, seeking for understanding.

Peter felt rage built up inside of him. "You keep people prisoners down here because of some stupid rules?" he demanded, his finger hovering over the trigger button. "Let's see what you think of those rules when I introduce you to a proton pack!"

"Peter, we can't harm him. He's corporeal and has negative valences," Egon explained neutrally, never letting his eyes wander off the man in front of them.

"He's right, Dr. Venkman. It would only make me angry and do unspeakable things to you," Kitaen added pleasantly.

"Unspeakable things, huh? Wait till I get my hands on the atomic destabilizer," Peter hissed angrily. "Then we talk about unspeakable things."

"If I could bend the rules, I would. Living people make a mess out of a normally very organized realm, I can tell you." Kitaen shook his head. "But I can't."

A loud howl echoed through the caverns again and the four Ghostbusters looked around, expecting to see the owner of that howl come charging out of some hiding place any second. Kitaen sighed deeply.

"What's that?" Peter asked. "Undead wolves?"

"No, not really. That's the source of my troubles I had here lately. That's also the reason why the gateway to your world opened. It's been a bit disorderly down here, but we'll get it back to normal in no time." The demon smiled hopefully.

To Peter the smile looked like that of a con man who had been caught in the act. Something was going on here, something Kitaen would really love to hide.

"Now, if you'd excuse me, I've matters to attend to. You would do better if you just returned to your world." Kitaen turned to leave.

"Whoa, not so fast!" Winston called. "What about those people?"

"I told you there is no way I can let them go back," Kitaen explained with a painstakingly patient voice.

Another howl, this time closer, rang through the realm. Kitaen's eyebrows drew together. "Damned watchdog!" he grumbled.

"Watchdog?" Ray looked thoughtful. "There are legends concerning a large, three-headed dog guarding the entrance to the Underworld."

"Yeah, yeah, Cerberus," Kitaen said sourly. "He's been on the loose for quite some time now and we had some mild trouble because he's doing a lot of damage. But not to worry, my best men are trying to catch him and bring him back to his place at the gate to the Underworld."

"Looks like they haven't had much success," Peter remarked.

"You mean your dog's responsible for this crack near Forestville?" Winston asked.

Kitaen looked like Winston had hit a sore spot. "Yes, he is, but like I said: not to worry. We'll soon have him."

"That crack has been there for weeks now," Ray said, remembering what Carter had told them. "More people could vanish into the Underworld if you don't close it."

"I can't close it as long as Cerberus isn't back at his place," Kitaen explained.

"How about a deal then?" Ray asked suddenly. Everyone looked at him.

"Deal?" Kitaen asked carefully. "What kind of deal? You have nothing to offer which I don't already have or could acquire easily."

"Oh, but we do. How about we catch your watchdog and you release the trapped people of Forestville?" the occultist said.

"Catch the watchdog?" Peter echoed. "Ray, have you completely gone nuts now?"

Ray shooed him to be quiet, all the while watching the black-dressed man. Kitaen seemed to ponder the offer, then shrugged.

"You may try, Ghostbusters, but my best men are on Cerberus' trail. What makes you think you could catch him?" he finally asked.

"Yes, what makes you think that, Ray?" Peter wanted to know.

"We can," Ray decided.

"All right, it's a deal then. You catch the Cerberus, and I release the Forestville population." Kitaen thoughtfully rubbed his chin. "No Netherworld entity can say that deals are against the rules."

"Exactly!" Ray called enthusiastically.

"One second," Peter cautioned. "Why are you so easy to deal with?" he asked openly.

"Why not?" was the question in return.

"What I heard about the Devil .... the guardian of the Underworld," Peter corrected at Kitaen's disapproving frown, "was that you always had an ace up your sleeve so you could weasel out of the deal."

"Dr. Venkman, please," Kitaen said with a hurt voice. "I don't 'weasel' out of deals. History always gives you a bad name. I'm not that bad, and I keep my word. Good luck." With that he vanished into thin air.

"Ray, you are crazy!" Peter exploded.

The occultist shook his head. "It's a simple plan, Peter. We catch the dog and he releases the people. It's the only way."

"I have to agree with Peter that this plan doesn't sound prone to be successful," Egon carefully entered the debate. "Like Kitaen Cerberus has to be a corporeal entity and probably has negative valences. We can't trap him with our conventional weapons and we didn't bring the atomic destabilizer."

"But we don't need all that!"

"We don't?" Winston echoed. "How so?"

"Our part of the deal isn't to trap Cerberus, it's to bring him back to his place at the gate. That's all." Ray's eyes glowed with anticipation of the adventure.

"Anybody brought along a dog leash?" Peter asked sarcastically.

"Make that three leashes," Winston remarked.

"Oh, swell." Peter eyed his thrower. "And our packs won't be of any help, right, big guy?"

"That is essentially correct, Peter."

"Listen, it's the only way for the poor people of Forestville to get out of here!" Ray said forcefully. "I, for one, will go and search for Cerberus." He began to walk off down into the next cavern.

Peter caught up with him and stopped him. "Wait a sec, Ray. If one of us goes, we all go." He turned to the others. "Right?"

"Right, homeboy," Winston supported him.

Egon nodded and began to fine-tune the P.K.E. meter. "I'll try and recalibrate the P.K.E. meter to pick up only the negative P.K. readings, which will give a chance to locate Cerberus without getting distracted by any other ghosts."

Peter wriggled his shoulders under his pack. "I don't like this place," he muttered as they set off, following Egon's guidance.

Winston nodded in agreement. "But, well, we're here, let's have some fun."

Peter grimaced. "You're starting to sound just like Ray." Another howl cut him off and he sighed. "We just have to be crazy to do that."

 

*

 

The four Ghostbusters had been walking through the maze of caverns for hours, as Peter estimated, following the howls and barks of Cerberus.

"You think somebody would have cleaned this place now and then," the psychologist muttered in disgust as he tried to get something sticky out of his hair. He didn't want to know what it was, just wanted to get rid of it. "This is so disgusting!"

"It's Hell, Peter," Winston chuckled. "You don't really expect it to be nice and clean, do you?"

Peter muttered something and trudged on. Suddenly the tunnel was at an end and they stood in a gigantic cavernous room. The room stretched endlessly to the left and right, bending to the left a bit. A wave of hot air brushed past them.

Walking carefully out into the open, the four men remained back to back to cover themselves. Something flapped over them, high enough not to be a threat, but still low enough that you could see that it was a skeleton bird.

"He didn't go this way," Egon simply said and turned to walk back into the corridor.

Ray's cry of amazement stopped him. "Look at that!"

The occultist was standing at the edge of the plateau and staring into the depth. Peter joined him, laying a cautioning hand on his friend's arm to keep him from stumbling over the edge. Then he, too, looked down.

"Uhhhh," he exclaimed and reeled back. "That's deep!"

"Yes, and there's a stream of liquid fire down there!" Ray was close to hopping up and down like a small child who had just discovered the real life Easter Bunny.

Egon looked down as well, nodding. "Very impressive. But we don't have time to study this, we have to find the Cerberus and return him to his place."

Winston gave the hot and fiery stream several miles below them one look and nodded in agreement. "That's one river I don't wanna swim through," he muttered, then walked back.

Ray was a bit disappointed, but as always he found new excitement just around the corner. They walked back down the way they had come and then choose one of the many other corridors interfacing with this one.

"Where to now?" Winston asked when they arrived at another junction.

A growl answered them followed by the sound of large paws scraping over sand. Something whisked past the opening.

"Don't tell me, big guy, that way," Peter commented, his mouth a bit dry. The shadow had been huge! He hated huge shadows.

Suddenly there were more sounds of running feet and excited shouts followed the sounds. A group of men spilled out of the corridor into the small cavern the Ghostbusters stood in.

"Where'd he go?"

"Just saw him here!"

"Damnit, he's quicker than I thought!"

The voices subsided and the two groups faced each other. Peter had seldom seen a more disorganized looking bunch of men. The all in all seven men standing in front of them eyeing them in surprise looked like they had stepped out of a bad movie about Roman or Greek times. They were dressed in leather armors and tunics, had swords, clubs and daggers, and wore a variety of helmets. All were bearded and all looked like death warmed over several times. They skin was a sickly bluish white, their eyeballs yellow. Their hair seemed to be covered with cobwebs and something that looked like dried slime to Peter, who was a good judge when it came to slime and its looks on the human body when dried.

"Hey, who are you guys?" one of the men asked, apparently the leader, judging from his large built and the slightly more ornamented armor he wore.

"We're the Ghostbusters," Peter explained, carefully maneuvering himself between his friends and the wild bunch in front of them.

"Ghostbusters? Never heard of you. Whatcha doing here?"

"We are looking for the Cerberus," Egon explained.

The men chuckled. "Whatcha wanna do? Catch him?" one called and all broke out laughing.

"In fact, we do, laughing boy," Peter returned.

"Hey, listen, we're the ones sent after the runaway dog, not you. So bug off, okay?" the leader commanded.

"Mind if we tag along?" Winston asked, shooting his friends a look to tell them not to object.

The leader shrugged and some stuff flaked off his shoulders. "Why not. Learn from the  professionals."

There was another round of chuckles and the men trooped off. The Ghostbusters followed, matching the men's jogging run easily.

After some time the leader stopped and crouched down, examining some trace on the sandy ground. "This way!" he called and everyone raced into another tunnel.

The Ghostbusters were about to follow when they heard cries and growls coming from the tunnel. There was a quick screaming and yelling, then something jumped out of the tunnel. Peter gave a yell of alarm as he fell to one side, pulling Egon with himself. Winston was knocked aside by something heavy and dry crashing against his shoulder and while rolling around on the floor to aim at their attacker, he witnessed Ray being thrown aside by a large shadow.

Then everything was suddenly very, very quiet. Peter groaned and got to his feet, groaning again as he felt the weight of the pack settle on a sore spot.

"Guys?" he asked.

"I'm fine, Pete," Winston reported and staggered over to Ray to help him to his feet.

The auburn-haired occultist wiped grime off his face. "I'm okay," he reported.

"Egon?"

"Everything is all right," the physicist said immediately, settling his glasses on his nose. "Very fascinating creature. It didn't set off the P.K.E. meter just now and I'm only able to pick up its trace now that it is gone."

"Great, so we can't tell if it's somewhere close because we can only trace it after it has left a place," Peter translated.

"What happened to those hunters?" Ray interrupted. "They went in, but ...."

Winston walked carefully into the tunnel. "Oh, damn," he breathed and the others followed.

Ray was stopped by his friend's cautioning hand. "What?" he wanted to know.

"You don't want to see that."

Ray pushed past Winston, then stopped, his eyes widening in horror at the sight. There were seven bodies in the small cavern, all dead as it seemed. Some were missing limbs, but none were bleeding. Suddenly one of them moved, groaning.

"They're still alive!" Ray cried. "We've got to help them!"

The man who had groaned sat up and looked around. "What a mess," he remarked dryly as he took in his dead comrades. Then he reached for one severed leg laying next to him. He took it and placed it at his knee. There was a quick flash of light crossing along the wound, then the man flexed his toes. "Much better." He rose from the floor.

"Oh, man," Winston whispered.

"Intriguing," Egon commented as he watched more of the 'dead' men rise.

Some began squabbling about missing limbs they had found, but they settled their fights after some time when everyone had his arms and legs firmly attached to his body.

"Where'd he go?" one of the newly put together warriors asked, eagerness in his dark eyes.

"Uh, it jumped down that way," Peter volunteered, shocked by what he had seen.

"Okay, men, this time we have him!" the leader yelled.

With a battle cry the men stormed out of the cavern, past four startled Ghostbusters.

"What the hell was that?" Peter finally burst out.

"They are already dead, Peter. They can't die again," Egon explained. "They don't feel pain and they don't bleed; they're, essentially, ghosts, though they are corporeal enough for the Cerberus to literally take them apart."

"Man, this is one weird place," Winston muttered.

"It's Hell, what do you expect?" Peter quipped. "So, okay, where to now?"

"We follow the Cerberus' trace."

With that they set off again, following the troop of hunters, which in turn followed the Cerberus.

 

* * *

 

"What's the bet that the hunters will get him first?"

Kitaen looked at the night-black demon with the yellowish mass of hair in amusement. "Your trust in the humans doesn't go very far, Iniera."

"I don't trust any human, Kitaen, and you should learn that as well," Iniera sneered. "We don't need those Ghostbusters running loose in the Underworld; we have the hunters."

"And see what success your hunters had so far?" Kitaen said patiently, playing with his black silk sleeve.

Iniera shook her head. "They will catch him, trust me."

Kitaen raised one eyebrow and his eyes glowed slightly. He leaned forward, his lips curling into a smile. "What makes you think I trust you more than I do the Ghostbusters, my dear? They, at least, are human and can be controlled if necessary."

The female demon smiled back, which wasn't a pretty sight. "So you finally admit that you can't control me and my hunters, do you?"

The keeper of the Underworld laughed heartily. "Back to the old argument already?"

Iniera shrugged. "It was never settled. Now, what about that bet?"

Kitaen grinned evilly. "Why not?"

 

* * *

 

The triumphant cries of the hunters alerted them to the position of the Cerberus. The Ghostbusters ran toward the cries and soon barks and growls of the Cerberus mixed with the cries.

"Watch it!"

"Get the rope!"

"Hold him!"

"Watch the left head!"

More barks and growls answered.

Winston was the first to come into the cavern where the fight was taking place. The  others followed immediately. In one corner stood a large, monstrous creature, only barely resembling a dog, held in check by the group of hunters.

"What an ugly mutt," Peter muttered, his thrower aimed at the Cerberus.

The Cerberus really was ugly. He had three heads with two glowing eyes each. The long snouts were full of viciously gleaming teeth, snapping for the hunters surrounding him. The wiry body was taut with tension and a large, lizard-like tail was swinging left and right. Strong legs with taloned feet were buried into the soft ground. The black fur of the body looked coarse and unkempt.

"Okay, what now?" Winston asked practically. "He's corporeal so we can't trap him."

"There has to be another way," Ray mused out aloud, watching the futile attempts of the hunters to get the three heads of the Cerberus leashed. The watchdog was standing with his back to a pit, his hind legs sometimes sliding over the edge. It whined and barked, its strong jaws tearing through the ropes. One of the hunters fell back, colliding with another one.

"Damnit, get him!" the leader yelled.

Another rope flew through the air and settled in place around the Cerberus' left head, but the sharp teeth made short work out of this one as well. Then the dog-like creature charged.

Peter reacted instinctively as he fired his proton beam and hit the Cerberus squarely in the chest. The dog howled in pain and its tail lashed out for Peter, hitting him in the ribs. All the air went out of Peter's lungs as he hit the floor with a cry. He gasped and panted, trying to breathe.

"Peter!" Egon cried and fired at the Cerberus as well to get him away from his friend.

The Cerberus howled again and moved away from the painful beams. Winston joined in the fire and they were able to drive the beast back to the rim of the pit. The dog gave a surprised whine as it lost its footage and fell.

"Now we got him!" one of the hunters cried triumphantly and they ran to the edge of the hole.

"Peter, are you all right?" Egon's concerned voice gave the panting psychologist something to focus on and he grabbed his friend's forearm.

"No ... air," he gasped. "Hit ... ribs."

Egon's long fingers carefully touched Peter's ribcage and the dark-haired man flinched as pain lanced through him.

"How is he?" Winston worried voice floated over to them.

"Peter!" Ray called unhappily.

"I think he cracked a rib or two, maybe broke one as well," Egon reported. "Peter, lie still."

"I'm okay," the psychologist grunted and tried to sit up, but failed. "Damn, that hurts!"

"What now?" Winston asked. "We can't trap the Cerberus and Peter's hurt."

"Don't say you can't catch the thing!" Peter told him.

"We can't trap him with our streams and those hunters are no good either." Winston gestured at the cheering men at the edge of the pit.

"Help me up, Egon, I wanna have a look," Peter ordered.

Egon grimaced, but helped the injured man to his feet after he had taken off the proton pack. Together they went over to the hole.

The Cerberus cowered in the far most corner of the roughly circular shaped pit. It hissed and snapped at the men above, its three heads salivating.

"It's afraid," Ray suddenly said softly.

"Afraid?" Peter echoed. "I'd call it mad."

"No, Peter, it's afraid. That's why it's biting everything coming close to it. All that hostility is making it even worse." Ray looked at his friends. "At the farm we had a dog once and it was always afraid when someone came too close with a stick. It had been beaten by its former owner and everytime it saw someone with a stick it started to bark and snap. It didn't mean any harm, it just wanted to be left alone."

"Ray, we can't leave that thing alone," Winston explained calmly. "It's disturbing everything down here, as Kitaen explained, and if we don't get it back to its place we won't get the people of Forestville back."

"I know, " the occultist muttered, playing with the straps of his proton pack. "I have an idea." Quickly he shrugged out of the pack and gave it to Winston, who stood closest to him. "Hold that." And with that he jumped into the pit.

"Ray!" Peter cried. "Get out of there immediately! It's too dangerous!"

"No, Peter, I know what I'm doing!" Ray called back.

"Raymond, get out of this place. The Cerberus is a too dangerous entity to confront!" Egon told his friend.

"I'll be okay!"

"That boy has some loose screws," Winston muttered and shook his head. "What'll we do?"

"We cover him as best as we can," Egon decided and aimed his thrower at the Cerberus.

"Your friend is brave to try and trap the Cerberus without help," the leader of the hunters said with admiration.

"It's a dumb and foolish move," Peter snarled.

"And that," the man agreed.

 

 

Down in the pit Ray carefully approached the Cerberus. The three-headed dog was afraid, its six eyes rolling wildly in their sockets. It bared its teeth and growled dangerously.

"It's okay," the occultist said softly. "I don't want to hurt you. It's okay."

Three pairs of ears cocked forward and the Cerberus snorted.

"You know, you've to go back to the gate of Hell and watch it. It's your job," Ray went on, keeping his voice soft and calm.

This was just like the time at the farm with the old dog. He had been talking to it as well and in the end they had been friends.

The Cerberus half whined, half growled. His dark eyes watched the Ghostbuster with a mixture of suspicion and interest. Ray stretched out one hand.

"I'm a friend. I just want to help you get back to your familiar home. This isn't your home," he made a vague gesture, "you don't really like it here, do you?"

The Cerberus whined.

"I understand." He carefully came closer and was now close enough to touch the snout of the middle head. His hand was still outstretched and the dog-like demon stretched his head to sniff at it.

"Yeah, that's a good boy," Ray lauded. "Just be calm." He carefully touched the snout. To his surprise and against everything he had thought, the fur of the snout was soft and warm. He cautiously stroked it and the Cerberus leaned his middle head into the touch, whining.

Ray smiled in delight and began rubbing the left head with his left hand. The long tail began to wag with happiness and the Cerberus sniffed at the occultist. Ray didn't mind the slobbery tongues at all, which licked at his hands. He was delighted to have won the trust of the dog.

"It's okay, guys!" he yelled to the others. "He's just a big puppy!"

 

 

Up on the edge Peter released the air he had been holding with a whoosh, holding his ribs as they protested painfully.

"One day I'm gonna have a heart attack!" he exclaimed.

"Yeah, that boy can drive you nuts!" Winston agreed, wiping his brow. "That was the most stupid stunt I've ever seen!"

"Agreed," Egon said dryly.

The leader of the hunters scratched his stained beard. "That's no way I've thought of catching the beast," he said. "That boy of yours really has unusual methods."

"He sure does," Winston muttered, watching Ray playfully scratch the Cerberus' ears.

"A boy and his dog," Peter quipped.

"I hope he doesn't want to keep it," Egon suddenly said.

"Keep it?" Winston echoed.

"Remember how he always wanted to find a terror dog puppy and try to train it to sniff out demons hiding in New York?" Peter asked in a pained voice.

Winston grimaced as he did.

"My men and I gotta go now," the leader said and gestured to his troops to pack their things.

"Hey, wait a second!" Peter protested. "How are we supposed to get the monster out of that pit and back to the gate?"

The undead warrior shrugged. "That's your problem." With that he and his men walked back into the tunnel and disappeared.

"Oh, such nice neighbors," Peter grumbled. "So helpful."

"Okay, so now we have the Cerberus, but the whole deal fails because we can't get it back to the gate?" Winston asked in disbelief.

"There has to be a way to get Ray and the Cerberus out of there," Egon decided, looking around.

"How about some strong ropes? Or we build a steep ramp out of the stones laying all around us?" Peter theorized.

There was a sudden yapping and a massive 'thump' and the Cerberus suddenly clawed its way over the edge. The three Ghostbusters retreated immediately, but the large dog with the three heads simply remained where it was standing, tongues lolling out of the three snouts. Then they discovered Ray. He was sitting on the back of the Cerberus, clinging to its fur. Now he slid down and grinned happily.

"Isn't he great!" he called, patting the left head.

"He jumped out of that pit," Peter said slowly.

"Yes, I explained to him what I wanted him to do and he did!" Ray came over, followed by the Cerberus. "He can also show us the way to the gate, can't you, boy?"

The Cerberus barked enthusiastically.

"See?"

Winston shook his head. "A boy and his dog," he repeated in a whisper that only Peter could hear it.

 

* * *

 

The gateway to Hell looked like a thousands of year old stone arc, intriciately carved, with a solid steel gate. Large pillars of different epochs of mankind -- and other kind -- stood along the way leading away from the gate and out into the open ground beyond Hell. The Ceberus sat in what looked the stone version of a dog house, each head now sporting a neck band and a chain leash. The leash was very long, allowing the creature to roam a wide path around the gate. It was fastend to a massive pillar.

Ray stood beside the Cerberus and patted all three heads. "Good boy," he told the large creature.

The Cerberus whined.

"Okay, so now he's back where he's supposed to be," Peter said, leaning against the pillar closest to him. "What now? We have to get back to where we came in and we have to get the population of Forestville home."

"That, Dr. Venkman, has already been accomplished," a pleasant voice said.

Peter jumped, then held his ribs with a painful wheeze. He glared at Kitaen, who stood beside him, smiling.

"Don't DO that!" the Ghostbuster hissed.

"I'm sorry."

"The people are back?" Egon asked.

"They are," Kitaen confirmed. "You kept your side of the deal, I keep mine."

"How do we know you tell the truth?" Peter wanted to know.

"You are a very distrusting person, Dr. Venkman," Kitaen said not unkindly. He stretched out one hand as if pointing at something and out of thin air appeared a picture. It showed Forestville.

"They are back!" Ray cried happily.

And yes, they were. People walked throught he streets, doing their nomal business or having fun. Nothing showed of the former abandoned town anymore.

"Since when are they back?" Winston wanted to know.

"Since your friend Dr. Stantz befriended the Cerberus."

"And you let us lead this monster through half of Hell to this place?" Peter wanted to know angrily.

Kitaen shrugged. "Yes," he answered simply.

Peter glared at him, but didn't say a thing.

"How do we get back?" Egon asked practically. "Since the people of Forestville are back I believe the gateway in the forest around the town is now closed."

"It is," Kitaen confirmed. "I will create a short lived gateway for you gentlemen to get back to your world." He made an elaborate gesture and a new gateway opened up, showing them Joseph Carter's house with Ecto-1 standing in front of it. "Here you go."

Ray patted Cerberus' heads again and the dog whined sadly.

"I know, I know, but you have to stay here and do your duty," he told the massive being.

Cerberus barked.

"Coming, Ray?" Peter asked.

Ray gave the dog one last look, then turned and walked over to his friends. "I'm ready," he announced.

"You just have to walk through and you're home," Kitaen said, making an inviting gesture.

The four men looked at each other, then nodded. Winston helped Peter since the psychologist couldn't really walk that well with his broken ribs. Ray was the first one through and as he went through he turned and smiled.

"It's safe," he called through the opening.

"Of course it is," Kitaen grumbled, standing beside his watchdog and scratching one head. "I tend to keep my deals."

 The other three went through one after another and when they were safe on the other side, the Master of Hell closed the Gate. He then turned to Cerberus and gave the watchdog a long look.

"I hope you have a good explanation for that adventure of yours ...."

The dog whined, wagging his tail, and giving his master a suffering look.

 

*

 

They reappeared without feeling the transition at all. The sun was shining down on them indicating it wasn't long after noon, and around them they could hear the bustle of a busy town. People looked at the four Ghostbusters with interest, but didn't stop to talk to them.

"Does anybody else think that something's wrong here?" Peter asked.

The others nodded.

"It's like nothing ever happened," Ray remarked with a surprised look on his face. "They don't seem to remember their abduction."

"Which would only benefit them," Egon said calmly. "Who knows how people cope with such an experience."

Peter nodded in agreement. "It's better they don't know what happened and where they were ..... except that this leaves us without a paycheck." He grimaced.

"Why don't we see if Mr. Carter still remembers us?" Ray suddenly said and walked straight toward the little house.

Peter was about to follow when he stopped and clutched his midsection.

"Peter?" Egon asked worriedly.

"Are you in pain, homeboy?"

"No," the psychologist answered slowly. "I don't feel .... anything......" He looked questioningly at his friends, poking and prodding his ribcage. "I .... my ribs .... they aren't broken any longer!"

The others exchanged surprised glances. Egon gave Peter's ribs a closer examination, but Peter had been right, they were no longer broken.

"Fascinating," the physicist muttered. "It might be the effect of the gateway, though I doubt it."

"Little farewell present from Kitaen?" Winston speculated.

"A paycheck would have been better," Peter said dryly.

"Look at that!" Ray cried and came back to them. He held up a letter. "That was pinned to the door. No one's answering me and there's our name on the envelope."

Egon took the envelope and tore it open. A check fell out.

Peter grabbed it. "Five thousand?" he read, his voice stunned. "Five thousand dollars?"

"Payable to Ghostbusters Inc.," Egon read on. "Signed by J.D. Carter."

"Let's hope that check is for real," Winston remarked.

"Hey, you!" a child's voice called and they turned, looking down on a boy, maybe seven or eight, with a bike. Peter recognized it as the bike he had seen laying abandoned on the sidewalk when they had arrived in Forestville today. "You're the Ghostbusters, right?"

Ray nodded, smiling at the recognition. "We are." He introduced them. "Say, what's your name?"

"Kevin. Wow! It's so cool to meet you guys!"

"Kevin, do you know a Mr. Joseph Carter?" Egon asked.

The boy's forehead wrinkled in deep thought. "Mr. Carter lived here." He pointed at the house.

"Lived?" Peter echoed. "He moved?"

Kevin shook his head. "No, he died a few months ago. Did you come to bust his ghost?" A sparkle of the expected adventure shone in the large blue eyes.

Ray shook his head. "No, we just wanted to talk to him."

The boy shrugged, then looked hopefully at them. "Can I have your autographs? My friends will be really jealous if I show them to them!"

The Ghostbuster complied and soon the boy cycled off down the road.

"Okay, let me get this straight," Peter said into the silence. "We were called by a guy called Carter, who died a few months ago, to find the missing population of this town. We go to Hell and back, but nobody can remember that except us, and we get paid by said dead guy. Something's really, really wrong here."

"You can say that again, buddy," Winston agreed. "What do you two think?"

Egon frowned thoughtfully, taking a few readings of the town. "There are only faint residual readings of the gateway here as it was closed several years ago. Someone wiped every trace of it's existence from this spot."

"You think it was Kitaen's doing?" Ray asked in a fascinated voice.

"Probably. He deleted every trace of the accident. It is in his powers," Egon mused. "He is, after all, a class 11 or higher entity."

"Maybe he wants to avoid further embarrassment," Peter quipped. "Come on, guys, let's go home. I want to get this check cashed and let's all hope it's the real thing."

"How about we grab a bite to eat first?" Winston looked at them. "I, for one, feel a bit hungry after all that running around after loose dogs."

"Count me in," Peter agreed. "I could use something to drink."

Together they set off to the nearest sandwich bar, still discussing their strange adventure. No one noticed the grey haired man standing beside one of the tress close to the small house of the deceased Joseph Carter.

 

*

 

Carter smiled in satisfaction and gave the Iniera a pleased smile. "It worked," he said.

The female demon looked a bit cross. "Yeah," she finally admitted, brushing back some hair. "It worked. But don't believe for one minute that they'll simply forget all that strange stuff happening around here. You can't wipe their minds; they were there, they will remember .... always."

Carter held up his hands. "Who wants to wipe their minds?" he asked. "Let them discuss it, let them research it, they won't find a trace back to the Underworld around here. And they won't find a trace of Joseph Carter either, except in form of five thousand dollars they will cash in soon, and maybe a grave stone."

Iniera shrugged. "Suit yourself." With that she disappeared.

Carter kept on smiling. Those Ghostbusters sure had come in handy with the Cerberus. The dog would still be on the loose since the hunters thought of the hunt as a game, not a job, and would prolong it unnecessarily. What was that human saying? Who you gonna call?


End file.
